US Defence official warns James Foley's execution is 'just the beginning'

As international outrage intensifies over the beheading of American journalist James Foley by IS terrorists, the US Defence Department has confirmed it had attempted to rescue other American hostages in Syria earlier this year. It's not clear whether James Foley was among them, but the family says it had been hopeful of securing his release up until recently and had even made contact with others who had been held captive by IS and released.

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TANYA NOLAN: As international outrage intensifies over the beheading of American journalist James Foley by IS (Islamic State) terrorists, the US Defence Department has confirmed it had attempted to rescue other American hostages in Syria earlier this year.

It's not clear whether James Foley was among them, but his family says it had been hopeful of securing his release up until recently.

Those who knew James Foley have also revealed that his family had recently received a death threat.

The US president is promising "justice" for James Foley's death.

And a former US Defence official has warned that yesterday's execution is "just the beginning" and America should brace for more of "this sensational violence".

North America correspondent Michael Vincent reports.

MICHAEL VINCENT: Some estimate as many as 20 western hostages are being held by Islamic militants.

The Pentagon's now confirmed commandoes attempted to save a number of them in a raid inside Syria during the northern summer.

A written statement's been issued by the White House on behalf of assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Lisa Monaco.

WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT (voiceover): The US Government had what we believed was sufficient intelligence, and when the opportunity presented itself, the president authorized the Department of Defence to move aggressively to recover our citizens.

Unfortunately, that mission was ultimately not successful because the hostages were not present.

MICHAEL VINCENT: It's not the first time Americans have attempted a raid inside Syria.

Former NSA director-general Michael Hayden says when he was in office, the US carried out a successful attack on a leader Abu Qadir but there has been praise for this attempted raid to save the hostages even if it wasn't successful.

Former Navy Seal Chris Heben.

CHRIS HEBEN: There's always an inherent risk in intel. You're only as good as your intelligence reports and intelligence is fleeting.

We have electronic intelligence, we have human intelligence, signals intelligence. It's this hodgepodge of information that they put together and you hope that it's up to date and current.

Sometimes it is and you get the job done and sometimes it's not and you go away empty handed.

MICHAEL VINCENT: For the family of James Foley today, they received confirmation of his death, and a call from the US president offering words of support and a promise of justice.

Those closest to James Foley say his execution was not without warning. His killers had made a threat directly linked to the American bombing campaign in Iraq.

Global Post founder and CEO Philip Balboni.

PHILIP BALBONI: We've not released this, but there was one communication after the bombing began that went to the family that stated that Jim would be executed, and we hoped and prayed that it would not and we did everything that we could.

MICHAEL VINCENT: The parents of James Foley have described Philip Balboni as family and the employer is paying tribute to James Foley's work and his character.

PHILIP BALBONI: Jim was a man of incredible bravery and courage and he showed that right to the very horrific end. I am in awe of the courage that he showed.

MICHAEL VINCENT: Philip Balboni knows what James Foley has gone through because he was kidnapped before in Libya in 2011 and chose to return to covering another war, this time in Syria, when he was kidnapped again.

PHILIP BALBONI: I knew how deeply committed he was, not to journalism in the abstract which is something we kind of, you know, practice every day, but to it being lived, you know, in the grit and the sweat and the blood in the field and the people who are suffering, in this case now both the people of Syria and Iraq.

And he gave his life for that and I think it's a shining example to other reporters of the importance of what we do, why people know about these wars.

MICHAEL VINCENT: James Foley's parents gave a deeply emotional press conference today in the garden at their home.

They spoke about their son's life and his courage and how they'd been fundraising for a possible ransom.

His mother Diane Foley says their support network called FOJ, Friends of Jim, had been tireless.

DIANE FOLEY: They've helped us like, try and help us do a video and trying to figure out what are the individual ways we can get him out, maybe fundraising, what can we do.

You know, and they were just there for us all the time, you know, all the time.

REPORTER: Did it ever feel close? Like maybe there was a point where...

DIANE FOLEY: Oh, it's been very close. I just got back from France and Denmark. We thought we had a way forward.

MICHAEL VINCENT: That wasn't to be.

Former Defence official Paul Brinkley says the US should not be naive about what has happened to James Foley and the threat that Islamic State poses in Iraq and Syria.

PAUL BRINKLEY: ISIS is very adept in embedding itself in local communities. That makes it very difficult to use remote means to attack those communities without causing collateral damage and further damage anti-American sentiment in the area.

So these are complicated, difficult situations. We didn't get here quickly, we're not going to resolve this quickly and there will be more of this sort of sensational violence to come.

MICHAEL VINCENT: As America awaits news of the fate of the other captives, the Pentagon says it's still carrying out attacks around Mosul Dam, in the past 24 hours destroying six Humvees and two armed trucks.